Last Day of No T.V.

I woke early on February 1 just in time to see the sun rise. It was astoundingly beautiful! I stood at my bedroom window soaking up the gift God had given me that morning. We had broken our bondage to the tube. We had made it one full month with absolutely no t.v. I was so proud of our family, but also a little sad that it was coming to an end.

Sorry it's been so long in getting back with you all about the end of our little New Year's resolution, but my move has been especially hard. Blogging just isn't the first thing on my mind right at the moment.

It's been almost a month and a half since we turned the t.v. back on, and I do miss it. But, there were a couple of changes that continued on and I'm very happy about them.

1. T.V. is on the permanent back burner! I cook more than ever, we turn off the tube when listening to our kids, and sometimes we forget to turn it on when we're bored. It's been wonderful.
2. Listening to my kids and spending time with them comes first. I used to get so upset when they would interrupt my show, but now I just turn off the t.v. for the moments time and listen. I've realized that they are of so much greater value than the words coming out of the box. Those people and experiences are not real...and my kids are very real and need my love and attention.
3. We eat dinner as a family most nights now! Oh my goodness--we've been trying to do this for years and never succeeded. Now, I've realized that cooking takes a lot of time. And that time is well worth my family! When I finally turned the t.v. off early in the day to start dinner, all of a sudden my family showed up at the table to eat. And even the times when we sit in front of the t.v. to eat are more relaxed. It's JUST t.v.
4. I don't mind telling my kids to turn off the t.v. when I want them to. I used to feel guilty for this. It's not like turning off their air or water! It's just a box.
5. I've realized that REAL life is made up of a series of mundane, very small or no reward events, with a few really great moments that make it all worthwhile. FAKE life is made up of a bunch of high-intensity adventures played out on a screen that lead to fat around the waste and a really worthless life. It's better to have a slow-paced, peaceful, real life than to have a fake life full of adventure-filled entertainment and an unhappy family life.